Family of man shot by Oxnard police files claim

The family of a man with mental health problems who was fatally shot by Oxnard police last summer has filed a claim against the city, police and Ventura County Medical Center’s psychiatric unit.

A claim is the first step toward a possible lawsuit against a government entity.

Michael Mahoney, 36, was killed Aug. 14 in the 300 block of South H Street after he pointed a gun at officers, according to police accounts.

His father, Edward Mahoney, said Friday that he submitted the claim himself last month in an attempt to meet a six-month filing deadline but is looking for a lawyer to take the case.

“That boy didn’t have to die,” he said.

Mahoney said he lived at the H Street home with his son but was in Montana visiting longtime friends when the incident took place.

Police had responded to the home on “multiple occasions” for calls regarding Michael Mahoney, the claim says. About a week before the fatal incident, officers took Mahoney to the county hospital’s Hillmont Psychiatric Center under rules that allow for temporary involuntary commitment if a person poses a threat to himself or others. The center released him not long after that “in essentially the same state he was in upon admission,” the claim alleges, noting that it was not his first trip to the psych unit.

The day before the fatal incident, police responded twice to the Mahoneys’ home a block from Oxnard’s historic district, the claim says.

Michael Mahoney’s twin sister, Tara Mahoney, of Ventura, previously has told The Star that the day before the shooting, her brother had threatened himself, but responding officers left him at home rather than take him to the psychiatric unit.

“They knew this was going to happen and they ignored my pleas,” she said in an August interview.

In the early afternoon of Aug. 14, police responded to a report of a man in the street with a gun. When officers arrived, they saw Michael Mahoney pointing a gun to his head, according to police. He ran from officers into the house. Police heard a gunshot and didn’t know whether he or someone else was injured.

Mahoney then came outside and confronted officers, police say. He held the gun to his head and challenged the officers to shoot him, then pointed it at them “in a threatening manner” before officers fired, police reported.

The family’s claim said an autopsy report showed Mahoney died of a gunshot wound to the chest.

Oxnard Police Chief Jeri Williams said officers receive training in dealing with people with mental illness, but noted this incident involved a weapon.

“I’m certain no officer wants to be involved in that type of situation,” she said.